Slide fastener tape

ABSTRACT

At least part of constituent yarns extending in the warp direction outside and adjacent a core thread woven or knitted in an element attachment edge portion has a higher elongation recovery ratio R than all the other constituent yarns and the core threads extending in the warp direction, the elongation recovery ratio R being expressed by the following equation based on a measurement according to JIS L1096:  
       R ={( L 1 −L 2)/( L 1 −L 0)}×100  (1)  
     where L0 is an original length of yarn, L1 is a length of yarn when pulled under a predetermined tension and L2 is a length of yarn after the elongation is recovered under no tension. After elements are mounted, this fastener tape is formed to have a positive pucker condition in which its element attachment edge portion is dented and curved while its tape main body is slightly waved. Consequently, it is possible to construct a woven/knitted fastener stringer capable of securing linearity after this fastener tape is sewed to object clothes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a slide fastener tape obtainedby weaving or knitting and more particularly, to a slide fastener tapehaving a so-called positive pucker condition in which a fastenerstringer, on which elements are mounted by strong stretching and variouskinds of heat treatments, is slightly dented toward the elementattachment side, and the slide fastener tape being integrated withobject clothes by sewing such that the entire surface thereof is uniformand flat without weaving on its tape main body and its sewed surface byabsorbing the aforementioned slight dent through contraction of the tapemain body at the time of sewing.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] As for the slide fastener tape (hereinafter referred to asfastener tape), a plurality of elements, which are formed to mesh withmating elements, are mounted along a side edge thereof at an equal pitchand a slider is loaded on the element row. Then, upper and bottomstopper devices are attached to ends of the element row so as to producea slide fastener of a predetermined length. After that, this slidefastener is sewed to clothes or various kinds of bags by sewing.

[0005] The fastener tape has a tape main body and an element attachmentedge portion attached to a side edge of the tape main body. In thiselement attachment edge portion, a core thread having a larger diameterthan other warp yarns is knitted together along the longitudinaldirection of the tape at the same time when the tape is knitted or wovenin order to not only stabilize the attachment condition of therespective elements but also increase their attachment strength.

[0006] Because of a difference in organization and structure between thetape main body and the element attachment edge portion, generally, theelement attachment edge portion in which the core thread is disposed hasa smaller heat shrinkage than the tape main body. As a result, the tapemain body is contracted largely in the fastener tape after passingvarious of heat treatment processes, thereby likely producing aninverted pucker in which the element attachment edge portion is warpedoutwardly.

[0007] On the other hand, when metallic elements or synthetic resinelements are mounted, a large tension is applied to the fastener tape,particularly its element attachment edge portion in order to secure aspecific attachment pitch for the elements and the elements are mountedwith its element attachment edge portion and tape main body in astretched condition. As a result, even after the tension is released,the portion having the elements mounted thereon is not returned to itsoriginal length but the side of the element attachment edge portion ofthe fastener tape is jumped outward largely, so that the above-describedinverted pucker condition is more likely to be intensified. Thistendency is remarkable particularly in such a slide fastener demanded tohave plasticity and contraction/expansion property.

[0008] To solve this fault, for example, Japanese Patent ApplicationPublication No. 59-51807 (patent document 1) has proposed that atextured yarn is adopted as the constituent yarns for the tape main bodyin a fastener tape composed of double-sided knitting structure, and acore thread covered with a covering yarn continuous from the tape mainbody is disposed in the element attachment edge portion while theboiling water shrinkage ratio of the core thread is higher than that ofthe textured yarn.

[0009] Although such a structure puts the element attachment edgeportion into a so-called positive pucker condition in which the elementattachment edge portion is dented inward or curved because of adifference in thermal shrinkage ratio between the element attachmentedge portion and the tape main body even after heat treatment. Even ifthe element attachment edge portion is contracted, the expansion andcontraction property of the tape main body follows it and consequently,a fastener stringer capable of holding linearity after elements aremounted is obtained. As a result, this fastener tape can be sewed to aflexible object clothes having ample contraction and expansion propertyin a condition that it is adapted to the same object clothes.

[0010] On the other hand, when the yarn having contraction and expansionproperty used for ordinary fastener tape material is employed in afastener tape constructed with ordinary weaving structure, if the puckeroccurs in the fastener tape, the fastener stringer is incapable ofcorrecting that pucker condition to a linear condition because the tapemain body has no contraction and expansion property due to the weavingstructure. Thus, when this fastener tape is sewed to clothes or thelike, not only the sewing processing becomes complicated but also theslide fastener mounted on clothes after sewing is not flattened in thelongitudinal direction, thereby providing waving condition, thus leadingto increase in fault products.

[0011] To solve such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent PublicationNo.2002-209613 (patent document 2) has disclosed a slide fastener tapecomprising a tape main body produced by weaving and an elementattachment edge portion in which a core thread is woven, wherein afoundation warp yarn used for the tape main body is composed of atextured yarn having a lower thermal shrinkage ratio than the other warpyarns, and the core thread has a multi-filament having a high boilingwater shrinkage ratio while a warp yarn inside and adjacent the corethread is composed of a textured yarn whose boiling water shrinkageratio is higher than that of the foundation warp yarn used in the tapemain body and lower than that of the core thread.

[0012] At the time when its weaving is completed, this fastener tape hasan inverted pucker condition in which the element attachment edgeportion is slightly jumped outward and curved because of a difference inweaving structure between the tape main body and the element attachmentedge portion. If dry thermal setting is applied to the fastener tapehaving such a structure for a short time, the contraction amount of theelement attachment edge portion and the contraction amount of the warpyarn disposed in the tape main body are hardly different and thecontraction amount of the element attachment edge portion is slightlylarger. Thus, the inverted pucker which is produced when weaving of thefastener tape is completed is eliminated so that entirely the fastenertape becomes linear.

[0013] Subsequently, the contraction amount in the fastener tape due todying decreases in the order of the core thread, the warp yarn adjacentthe core thread and the tape main body, so that the fastener tape turnsinto the positive pucker condition in which the side of the elementattachment edge portion is dented inward like a bow. At the same time,bias occurs such that the tape main body turns into a waved condition.When the fastener elements are mounted under this condition, a largetension is applied to particularly the element attachment edge portion.Thus, although the element attachment edge portion is elongated by atension at the time when the elements are mounted, that elongation issmaller than the contraction amount by heating, so that the elementattachment edge portion becomes substantially linear. On the other hand,because no elongation occurs in the tape main body at the time when theelements are mounted, that bias condition is maintained.

[0014] By setting the boiling water shrinkage ratio of the core threadin the element attachment edge portion of the fastener tape larger thanthe boiling water shrinkage ratio of the warp yarn inside and adjacentthe core thread, the difference in thermal shrinkage between the elementattachment edge portion and the tape main body is changed in steps.Thus, no step-like contraction behavior is generated between the elementattachment edge portion and the tape main body. Because the elementattachment edge portion in the fastener stringer keeps linear when thisslide fastener is sewed to object clothes, the sewing processing can beexecuted accurately, and consequently, a beautiful product can beobtained, in which no waved state occurs in a longitudinal direction inthe slide fastener after the sewing.

[0015] When a slide fastener chain is sewed to object clothes,contraction occurs in the fastener tape to be sewed by tension of asewing thread. Thus, no pucker occurs in the slide fastener beforesewing as mentioned in the above patent documents 1 and 2. If theelement row and the fastener tape are linear included in the same plane,the fastener tape is likely to be waved along its sewing line.Particularly if the object clothes has an ample plasticity particularlylike a thin knit fabric or thin woven fabric, the product on which eachof them is sewed is also waved thereby leading to drop in product value.

[0016] The present invention has been accomplished to solve such aproblem and a specific object of the present invention is to provide awoven or knitted slide fastener tape capable of obtaining a beautifulsewed product regardless of which the sewed product is hard or soft.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The above-described object is achieved by a slide fastener tapecomprising: a tape main body formed by weaving or knitting and anelement attachment edge portion in which a core thread is woven orknitted, wherein constituent yarns extending in a warp direction outsideand adjacent the core thread in the element attachment edge portion havean elongation recovery ratio R against a stretching, which is obtainedaccording to JIS L1096 and is higher than that of all other constituentyarns and the core threads extending in the warp direction.

[0018] When weaving or knitting of this fastener tape is completed, itselement attachment edge portion is kept substantially linear while thetape main body is slightly waved because of a difference in organizationbetween the tape main body and the element attachment edge portion, anda difference in elongation recovery ratio R of constituent yarn betweenthe tape main body and the element attachment edge portion. If thecontraction amount of the element attachment edge portion and thecontraction amount of the constituent yarns extending in a warpdirection in the tape main body are hardly different from each othereven when dry thermal setting and high-temperature dying are carried outunder such a structure, the configuration produced when weaving orknitting thereof is completed is not changed largely.

[0019] When the fastener elements are mounted under this condition, themain body and element attachment edge portion in the fastener tape arepulled together strongly and particularly, the element attachment edgeportion is pulled relatively strongly. The element attachment edgeportion and the tape main body are elongated together by a tension atthe time when the elements are attached. The element attachment edgeportion approaches to its original length because the elongationrecovery ratio R of the constituent yarns disposed outside the corethread in the element attachment edge portion is set larger than theelongation recovery ratio R of the constituent yarns extending in thewarp direction of the tape main body. However, recovery of its tape mainbody is small, thereby providing a positive pucker condition in whichthe side of the element attachment edge portion is dented and curvedlike a bow while the tape main body is waved.

[0020] If the fastener tape section of the slide fastener having such aconfiguration is sewed to object clothes, the tape main body isflattened due to contraction which occurs at the time of sewing, so thatthe fastener tape is sewed in a condition that it is well adapted to theobject clothes. That is, a beautiful product which does not sufferwaving in the longitudinal direction of the slide fastener after sewingis obtained.

[0021] The elongation recovery ratio R at this time can be obtained bymeasuring respective yarn lengths according to JIS L1096 and using thefollowing equation (1). The elongation recovery ratio R of theconstituent yarns disposed outside the core thread in the elementattachment edge portion of the present invention is difficult toautomatically determine because it is determined relative to that of theother constituent yarns. However, the elongation recovery ratio R ispreferred to be 85% or higher because the elongation recovery ratio R ofthe constituent yarns disposed outside the core thread in the elementattachment edge section is easier to set to be higher than the othermaterials. The elongation recovery ratio R of ordinary multi-filament ormono-filament is at most 80% even if it reaches its maximum.

R={(L1−L2)/(L1−L0)}×100  (1)

[0022] where L0 is an original yarn length, L1 is a yarn length whenpulled under a predetermined tension and L2 is a yarn length afterrecovery under no tension.

[0023] For measurement of the yarn length based on JIS L1096, a tensiontest machine or an apparatus having similar performance is used. With anend of a test piece fixed with a clamp, an initial load is applied tothe other end and marks are made at a position 20 cmk from a bottom endof the clamp in the test piece. Next, a load of 14.7 N (1.5 kgf) isapplied gently and after leaving for one hour, the interval between themarks is measured. Next, the load is removed and the initial load isapplied 30 seconds after and one hour after and then the intervalbetween the marks is measured. The elongation recovery ratio R isobtained according to the above-described equation (1) and three averagevalues are calculated about 30 seconds after and one hour after.

[0024] The elongation recovery ratio R is preferred to be set smaller inthe order of the constituent yarns in the element attachment edgeportion extending in the warp direction outside and adjacent the corethread, the core thread and all the other constituent yarns extending inthe warp direction in the tape main body. If the fastener tape is leftunder no load after it is stretched equally with such a structure, theconstituent yarns in the element attachment edge portion extending inthe warp direction outside and adjacent the core thread, the core threadand the tape main body try to return to their original lengths in thisorder. As a result, their elongation recovery behaviors are obtainedwithout any difference in step among these yarns, thereby providing apositive pucker condition in which the element attachment edge portionis dented and curved like a bow. When the slide fastener is sewed toobject cloth, contraction at the time of sewing is absorbed by thewaving state of the tape main body, so that the sewing work can becarried out easily and accurately and a beautiful product can beobtained after the sewing.

[0025] According to the present invention, preferably, the size of asingle yarn having a high elongation recovery ratio R is set larger thanthe size of the single yarn in all the constituent yarns extending inthe warp direction. If the size of the single yarn having the highelongation recovery ratio R is larger than the size of the single yarnin all the other constituent yarns extending in the warp direction, therecovery ratio after the elongation is increased. Even if the invertedpucker condition is conceivable until elements are mounted, it can bechanged to a slight positive pucker condition securely after theelements are mounted.

[0026] Examples of a typical material for a yarn having a highelongation recovery ratio R include nylon and polycondensate ofn-propanediol and terephthalic acid. If multi-filament yarn of polyesteris employed for all the other constituent yarns extending in the warpdirection in the tape main body except these yarns, it is preferablebecause a conceivable different can be provided to the elongationrecovery ratio R between them. In the case of a fastener tape obtainedby weaving, employing the textured yarn for all warps yarns used in theelement attachment edge portion and tape main body is preferable becauseit prevents deviation in stitch. However, the knit fastener tape doesnot always need to be of a textured yarn because there is no fear thattheir stitches may be deviated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027]FIG. 1 is an enlarged partial perspective view schematicallyshowing a typical embodiment of a weaving structure of a fastener tapeaccording to the present invention;

[0028]FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

[0029]FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing changes instyle in each processing step for the fastener tape;

[0030]FIG. 4 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing amodification of the embodiment;

[0031]FIG. 5 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showinganother modification of the embodiment;

[0032]FIG. 6 is a partial plan view schematically showing a typicalembodiment of a knitting structure of the fastener tape according to thepresent invention; and

[0033]FIG. 7 is a partial plan view showing a modification of theembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0034] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention willbe described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035]FIG. 1 shows an example of a woven fabric of a fastener tapeaccording to a typical embodiment of the present invention. Although theweaving structure shown in this figure is expressed roughly for graphicrepresentation, actually, this is composed of a tight structure.

[0036] The fastener tape 1 having this weaving structure is woven bymeans of a small-width weaving machine usually called needle weavingmachine. As shown in FIG. 1, a yarn is reciprocated through an openingproduced by the warp yarns, so that two yarns act as a pair of weftyarns 2 in a condition that they are doubled. Although in this figure,the pair of weft yarns 2 inserted laterally are expressed as a conditionthat yarns 2 a, 2 b doubled are set apart from each other in a verticaldirection, actually, the yarns 2 a, 2 b keep in contact with each other.A loop end formed at a return end of the weft yarn 2 entangles with aloop end of a weft yarn (not shown) which is to be formed next time witha latch needle (not shown), so as to form an ear section at a side edgeof the fastener tape 1. On an edge opposite to the ear section formed byentanglement of the weft yarns 2, fastener elements 3 are attached asindicated with a phantom line in FIG. 2.

[0037] That is, the fastener tape 1 is comprised of an elementattachment edge portion 4 on which fastener elements 3 are to beattached and which is located on an edge portion opposite to the earsection (not shown) formed by entanglement of the loop ends of the weftyarns 2, and a tape main body 5 which is stretched from the elementattachment edge portion 4 to the ear section (not shown) on the oppositeside. As the yarns 2 a, 2 b which compose the weft yarns 2 of thisembodiment, a fine textured yarn constituted of 330 dTex polyester isemployed.

[0038] As two warp yarns 6 a, 6 b to be disposed adjacent and outsidethe element attachment edge portion 4 in the indicated example, nylonmulti-filaments thicker than the other warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, 6 e, . . . 6m, 6 n are disposed and two core threads 7 a, 7 b are disposed insideand adjacent the two warp yarns 6 a, 6 b. Further, the polyestertextured yarns composing two pairs of warp yarns 6 c to 6 f, eachcomposed of two yarns, are disposed inside and adjacent the corethreads, thereby constructing the element attachment edge portion 4.

[0039] Further, the multiple foundation warp yarns 6 g, 6 h, . . . 6 m,6 n are disposed in the tape main body 5 from its inside up to the earsection. These foundation warp yarns 6 g, 6 h, . . . 6 m, 6 n are wovensuccessively while each is composed of two yarns as a pair. Two narrowwarp yarns 6 o-1, 6 o-2 disposed outside the two warp yarns 6 a, 6 b,disposed outside and adjacent the aforementioned element attachment edgeportion 4, have a function of holding the configuration of the edge ofthe element attachment edge portion 4. According to this embodiment, theentire organization except the core threads 7 a, 7 b is a plain weavingorganization in which the warp and weft yarns are woven with two yarnsof each as a pair.

[0040] The two warp yarns 6 a, 6 b having a high elongation recoveryratio R disposed in the element attachment edge portion 4 of thefastener tape 1 and outside of the attachment edge portion are composedof nylon multi-filament having a boldness of 470 Tex. The two corethreads 7 a, 7 b are composed of polyester made multi-filament of 560dTex of gray yarn as a core thread and knit yarns of 267 dTex coveringthe circumference of the former. The respective warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, . .. 6 m, 6 n on the side of the tape main body of the element attachmentedge portion 4 are composed of polyester textured yarns of 330 dtex.Further, the two warp yarns 6 o-1, 6 o-2 disposed most outside in theelement attachment edge portion 4 are composed of polyester texturedyarns of 235 dTex.

[0041] To prevent the inverted pucker from being generated at the timeof producing the fastener stringer keeping the positive pucker conditionin which the element attachment edge portion 4 is slightly dented sothat the configuration is curved under the present invention, it isimportant that the warp yarns 6 a, 6 b disposed outside and adjacent thecore threads 7 a, 7 b are not elongated by liquid pressure at the timeof injection of the fastener element and in coloring process. Theelongation recovery ratio R of the two warp yarns 6 a, 6 b having a highelongation recovery ratio R is 94.3%, the elongation recovery ratio R ofthe warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, . . . 6 m, 6 n disposed in the tape main bodyis 67.0% and the elongation recovery ratio R of the core threads 7 a, 7b is 73.1%. That is, the elongation recovery ratio R decreases graduallyin the order of the two warp yarns 6 a, 6 b disposed outside andadjacent in the element attachment edge portion, the core threads 7 a, 7b and the warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, . . . 6 m, 6 n disposed in the tape mainbody.

[0042] Further, the above-mentioned core threads 7 a, 7 b have a boilingwater shrinkage ratio of 15%, which is extremely larger than the otheryarns, so that the thermal setting contraction is increased fromconventional 5% to 7%. Meanwhile the elongation recovery ratio R of thetwo warp yarns 6 o-1, 6 o-2 disposed most outside in the elementattachment edge portion 4 is equal to the elongation recovery ratio R ofthe warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, . . . 6 m, 6 n disposed in the tape main body.

[0043] To block generation of the inverted pucker at the time ofmanufacturing the fastener stringer according to the present invention,it is important also to secure a high contraction in the core threads 7a, 7 b and suppress the elongation of a tape on the side of the elementattachment edge portion 4 to a small level after the fastener tape 1passes coloring step in order to block the core thread from beingelongated at the time of fastener element injection (not shown). For thereason, as for the structure of the core threads 7 a, 7 b, the corethreads are covered so as to surround a core material with a knit tubeobtained by intersecting sinker loops each composed of multiple knittingyarns with each other like the core thread structure disclosed by, forexample, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 55-21605.According to this embodiment, gray yarn multi-filaments of polyester of330 dTex×2 are employed as the core thread and its boiling watershrinkage is set to as high as 15%.

[0044] By adopting the above-described weaving structure and differentkinds of the warp yarns of this embodiment, the configuration of thefastener tape 1 changes as indicated in FIGS. 3A to 3E each time when itpasses a predetermined heat treatment process. Consequently, whenelements are attached by injection under a high temperature, a fastenerstringer 8 is configured into a positive pucker in which the side of theelement attachment edge portion 4 is slightly dented to produce a curvedshape. Its slight waving condition is eliminated by contraction in thefastener tape generated when it is sewed to mating clothes so that abeautiful sewing configuration can be obtained easily.

[0045] This will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. First, it isassumed that the fastener tape is woven with all the warp yarns 6 o-1, 6o-2, 6 a, 6 b, . . . 6 m, 6 n and core threads 7 a, 7 b under the sametension. In this case, although the warp yarns 6 a, 6 b having a highelongation recovery ratio R are substantially returned to their originallength, the other warp yarns 6 o-1, 6 o-2, . . . 6 m, 6 n and corethreads 7 a, 7 b cannot return to their original length completely.Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3A, a positive pucker condition in which theside of the element attachment edge portion 4 is slightly dented isformed. However, on a stage when the weaving is completed, the elementattachment edge portion 4 is substantially linear while only minutewave-like bias is generated in the tape main body 5.

[0046] Then, the fastener tape 1 obtained in this way is dyed. As forthis dying, usually, the fastener tape 1 is wound around a dying beam(not shown) and that beam is dipped into dying solution circulated in adying machine and then, the fastener tape 1 is dyed under hightemperatures. Therefore, unless the fastener tape is wound around thebeam uniformly, no uniform dying can be obtained. For the reason, thefastener tape 1 having the pucker condition just after weaving iscompleted is subjected to the thermal setting under a dry hot conditiontemporarily. At this time, a uniform tension is applied to the fastenertape 1 to execute linear thermal setting so that uniform winding aroundthe beam is secured.

[0047] When this just woven tape is subjected to thermal setting under adry hot condition of, for example, 180° C. for a minute, as shown inFIG. 3B, although the core threads 7 a, 7 b are contracted, they are notcontracted completely because the thermal setting processing time isshort. Further, a difference in contraction between the elementattachment edge portion 4 and the tape main body 5 at the time ofthermal setting is quite small and bias in the element main body hardlyexists visibly.

[0048] Next, the fastener tape 1 is dipped into a high-pressure dyingsolution at 130° C. and dyed for 40 minutes. Consequently, the elementattachment edge portion 4 is contracted most and then, the core threads7 a, 7 b are contracted next, so that a, difference in contractionoccurs between the element attachment edge portion 4 and the tape mainbody 5. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3C, a positive pucker conditionbecomes evident so that it is visually found that wave-like bias isgenerated in the tape main body 5 at the same time.

[0049] Fastener elements 3 are injection-molded under high temperaturessubsequent to dying and then, are integrated with the element attachmentedge portion 4 of the fastener tape 1. At this injection-molding time,the largest tension is applied to the element attachment edge portion 4so that it is elongated. Although if the tension is released after themolding, the elongation in the element attachment section of the elementattachment edge portion 4 is not recovered but that in the tape sectionbetween the elements is largely elongated or recovered. At this time,the recovery from the elongation in the core threads 7 a, 7 b and tapemain body 5 is small and because of the difference in elongationrecovery ratio R, the warp yarns 6 a, 6 b disposed outside and adjacentthe core threads 7 a, 7 b, the core threads 7 a, 7 b, and the warp yarns6 c, 6 d, . . . 6 m, 6 n disposed in the tape main body try to return totheir original lengths. Thus, the warp yarns 6 a, 6 b disposed outsideand adjacent the core threads 7 a, 7 b are recovered to their originallength most while the amount of the recovery in the warp yarns 6 c, 6 d,. . . 6 m, 6 n in the tape main body is the smallest. As a result, afterthe manufacturing, the element attachment edge portion 4 in a fastenerchain 9 becomes linear as shown in FIG. 3D so that the waving in thetape main body 5 is evident.

[0050] After the manufacturing, a slider is loaded on the fastenerstringer 8 and upper and bottom stopper devices are mounted. When thisslide fastener is sewed to object clothes, although usually its sewingsection is waved due to contraction by sewing, the slide fastener ofthis embodiment fits to the object clothes regardless of which it ishard or soft at the time of sewing because the tape main body 5 is inthe waving condition. Consequently, not only the slide fastener can besewed easily but also as shown in FIG. 3E, a product after sewing 10 canbe completed beautifully. Particularly, this slide fastener ispreferable for a soft object clothes.

[0051]FIG. 4 shows a modification of the fastener tape 1 obtained byweaving in the same way as the above-described embodiment. Thismodification is achieved by modified hollow-weaving and although theorganization of the core threads 7 a, 7 b to be woven into the elementattachment edge portion 4 is the same as the above-described embodiment,the two warp yarns 6 a, 6 b having a high elongation recovery ratio Rdisposed outside and adjacent the same core threads 7 a, 7 b arearranged in parallel in the direction of the front and rear sides of atape surfaces and the two warp yarns 6 o-1, 6 o-2 having a smalldiameter disposed most outside in the element attachment edge portion 4are excluded from this embodiment.

[0052] According to this modification, a textured yarn composed ofpolycondensate constituted of n-propanediol having a high elongationrecovery ratio R and terephthalic acid is employed for the warp yarns 6a, 6 b having a high elongation recovery ratio R in the elementattachment edge portion 4 like the above embodiment. A textured yarn ofpolyester having a smaller elongation recovery ratio R than the warpyarns 6 a, 6 b is employed for the warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, . . . 6 m, 6 nin the tape main body 5 like the above embodiment. The elongationrecovery ratio R of yarn (made by Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.)composed of polycondensate constituted of the aforementionedn-propanediol and terephthalic acid is 88% and the elongation degree is36 to 37%, which are extremely larger than polyester and nylon 66.

[0053]FIG. 5 shows another modification of the above-describedembodiment. According to this modification, the element attachment edgeportion 4 is formed as hollow-woven section and a large core thread 7 isinserted in this hollow-woven section. Three warp yarns 6 o, 6 a, 6 bcomposed of large nylon multi-filament having a higher elongationrecovery ratio R than the other warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, . . . 6 m, 6 n aredisposed as yarns arranged most outside in the hollow-woven section.Polyester is used as material of the other warp yarns 6 c, 6 d, . . . 6m, 6 n like the above embodiments.

[0054] According to this modification also, the fastener stringer 8after the elements 3 are mounted is formed to have a positive puckercondition in which the element attachment edge portion 4 is slightlydented, so that a product after the fastener stringer is sewed theretocan be finished beautifully. Further, two or three warp yarns 6 a, 6 b(6 o) having a higher elongation recovery ration R than the other warpyarns 6 c, 6 d, 6 m, 6 n are disposed most outside in the elementattachment edge portion 4. Therefore, the behavior of the fastenerstringer which tries to return to its original configuration is unlikelyto be affected by its peripheral organization so that its predeterminedrecovery amount becomes easy to obtain and thus, the positive puckercondition can be obtained securely.

[0055]FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. Afastener tape 11 of this embodiment is a warp knit tape. Although thisfigure expresses the arrangement of the constituent yarns roughly,actually, they are knitted more tightly. Like the first embodimentdescribed above, this fastener tape 11 is comprised of an elementattachment edge portion 14 on which multiple elements 3 are to beattached at an equal pitch and a tape main body 15 to be sewed to objectclothes (not shown). According to this embodiment, chain knitting yarns16 a, 16 b, . . . 16 m, 16 n are disposed on all wales and a 0-0/3-3weft yarn 12 a is inserted into a needle loop of each of the chainknitting yarns 16 a, 16 b, . . . 16 m, 16 n successively. One corethread 17 is disposed between the chain knitting yarns 16 a and 16 b inthe element attachment edge portion 14 and the core thread 17 is knittedinto and fixed in the element attachment edge portion 14 by intersectingthis weft yarn 12 a with the 3-3/0-0 weft yarn 12 b on the front andrear surfaces.

[0056] A nylon-made multi-filament yarn 16 p having a higher elongationrecovery ratio R than the other composition knitting yarns 16 a, 16 b, .. . 16 m, 16 n, which is a feature section of the present invention, isinserted longitudinally between the front and rear weft yarns 12 a and12 b and at the same time, between the chain knitting yarn 16 a and thecore thread 17, the chain knitting yarn 16 a being disposed outside thecore thread 17 of the two chain knitting yarns 16 a, 16 b disposed inthe element attachment edge portion 14. The total size of the nylon-mademulti-filament yarn 16 p used in the present invention is 470 dTex andits elongation recovery ratio R is 94%.

[0057] On the other hand, the core thread 17 is produced by covering acore material 17 a of polyester-made multi-filament yarn of three grayyarns of 560 dTex with a covering section 17 which is hollow-woven witha single polyester-made multi-filament yarn of 267 dTex and itselongation recovery ratio R is 78.8%. A textured yarn composed of330-dTex polyester-made multi-filament is employed for the chainknitting yarns 16 a, 16 b, . . . 16 m, 16 n and the weft yarns 12 a, 12b and its elongation recovery ratio R is 75.6%.

[0058] The chain knitting yarns 16 a, 16 b, . . . 16 m, 16 n and theweft yarns 12 a, 12 b of this embodiment utilize a small size yarn andorganized in a knitting structure. Accordingly, the fastener tape 11after knitting has an extremely excellent plasticity and adapts itselfto a knit fabric or thin woven cloth easily. Further, because theabove-described structure is adopted, a fastener stringer (not shown)after the elements 3 are attached has a positive pucker condition inwhich the element attachment edge portion 14 is slightly dented like thefirst embodiment, so that it adapts itself to an object clothes well. Atthe same time, it can absorb a contraction generated at the time ofsewing sufficiently and consequently, a beautiful sewing product isproduced.

[0059]FIG. 7 shows a modification of the second embodiment. According tothis modification, the nylon-made multi-filament yarn 16 p of the secondembodiment is excluded and a nylon-made multi-filament yarn having ahigh elongation recovery ratio is employed for the chain knitting yarn16 a disposed outside the core thread 17 of the two chain knitting yarns16 a, 16 b disposed in the element attachment edge portion 14. Thephysical property at this time is substantially the same as the secondembodiment. According to this modification, the chain knitting yarn 16 adisposed most outside in the element attachment edge portion 14 is morethan twice longer than the second embodiment. Thus, the amount ofreturning to its original length after the chain knitting yarn 16 a isstretched strongly when the elements are mounted is relatively largerthan the other chain knitting yarns 16 b, . . . 16 m, 16 n, so that thepositive pucker condition in which the element attachment edge portion14 is dented and curved becomes evident.

[0060] As evident from the above description, the elongation recoveryratio R of the core thread composing the element attachment edge portionand the constituent yarns adjacent the inside of the same core threadand that of the constituent yarns and core thread extended in the otherwarp direction, material of those constituent yarns and core thread andtheir knitting/weaving structure are not restricted to theabove-described configuration and as well understood, may be modified invarious ways within a technical scope mentioned by the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A slide fastener tape comprising: a tape mainbody formed by weaving or knitting; and an element attachment edgeportion in which a core thread is woven or knitted, wherein at leastpart of constituent yarns extending in a warp direction outside andadjacent the core thread in the element attachment edge portion has ahigher elongation recovery ratio R, which is expressed by a followingequation (1) based on a length of yarn measured according to JIS L1096,than that of all other constituent yarns and the core threads extendingin the warp direction in the tape main body:R={(L1−L2)/(L1−L0)}×100  (1) where L0 is an original length of yarn, L1is a length of yarn when pulled under a predetermined tension and L2 isa length of yarn when no tension is applied.
 2. The slide fastener tapeaccording to claim 1, wherein the elongation recovery ratio R of theyarns having the high elongation recovery ratio R is 85% or more.
 3. Theslide fastener tape according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elongationrecovery ratio R is set to be smaller in an order of the constituentyarns extending in the warp direction outside and adjacent the corethread in the element attachment edge portion, the core threads and allthe other constituent yarns extending in the warp direction.
 4. Theslide fastener tape according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a size of theyarns having the high elongation recovery ratio R is set to be largerthan that of a single yarn of the constituent yarns extending in thewarp direction of the tape main body.
 5. The slide fastener tapeaccording to claim 1, wherein the yarns having the high elongationrecovery ratio R are composed of nylon-made multi-filament yarn whileall the other constituent yarns extending in the warp direction arecomposed of polyester-made multi-filament yarn.
 6. The slide fastenertape according to claim 3, wherein the yarns having the high elongationrecovery ratio R are multi-filament yarn composed of polycondensate ofn-propanediol and terephthalic acid while all the other constituentyarns extending in the warp direction are polyester-made multi-filamentyarn.